Alliance Partners

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Give your business a Spring Clean – Things you need to do

Written on a plane from Singapore to Sydney 28 July 2010

VALUES, VISION AND MISSIONWork out what your values are – trust, integrity, ethical, health, wealth, wisdom, excellence, loyaltyGo Back to Basics and ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing.• Is it to make a good living from your business?• Is it to help other people?• Is it to maximize returns for shareholders?• Is it to grow your business so you can exit it?• Is it something you love to do (a hobby that you are passionate about?)• Are you climbing the right ladder?

Identify your issues in your business and work out ways in which you can resolve these issues. Speak to Alan Milwidsky at http://www.bsi.com.au/Think about where you want to be 5 years from now. 4 , 3 , 2 and 1 year from now and identify steps how you are going to get there

GOAL SETTINGMake your goals REAL, SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, IDENTIFIABLE and TRACKABLESplit them into Short, Medium and Long term GoalsActivating Goals – the 7 C’s• Conviction - you and your team need to know your vision and believe in it• Character – act with honesty and integrity• Courage – you need big cahoonas to take action• Competence – you need to be the “college of knowledge”, have the required skills, the right attitude and habits to be the best• Commitment – you need to have the 4 d’s (desire, dedication, determination and drive )• Creativity – you need to be innovative and think “that the glass is half full than half empty” A pessimist sees difficulties in every opportunity. An optimist sees opportunities in every problem• Caring – you need to act from the heart.

YOUR SUCCESS IS THE JOURNEY – NOT THE DESTINATION• 4 f’s - Focused,Fast, Flexible, Fun• 5p’s - plan, passionate, persistant, profit• Do NOT be complacent, arrogant and live in a state of denial• Balance your life with business, family, community, spiritual, exercise, continual learning. Make a plan and set goals for each section of your life. All the plan will do is act as a guide. There will inevitably be deviations and plans will change…. That’s ok – as long as you have your values secure. They need to be your rock and foundation.PEOPLE• Hire the best – speak to Michale Lynch at http://www.bsip.com.au/• Average people will cost you money• Empower your team• Invest in your team – comprehensive training and a workplace that they enjoy coming to speak to Graham Raspass at http://www.bsil.com.au/• They need to know and believe in the vision and mission and know the 30 second pitch• You don’t need to motivate motivated staff – if you do, something in your business is missing.

OUTSOURCING• What are you doing day to day that you can outsource for a fraction of your salary – that you can save up to 80% of your time.

PR MARKETINGSet identifiable KPI’s for your PR Marketing Plan each quarter• how many articles• how many journalists you contact in 1 month• how many events• how many blogs have you written• you on facebook /twitter/linked in – how many contact on your social networks.

DATABASEThis is your most important asset. Make sure it is clean, up to date and your members are contacted on a regular basis

WEBSITE• Is it up to date?• Is it current?• Is it interactive?• Are there call to actions?• No Spelling mistakes – use www.spellsrus.com• Do you regular measure how many people look at your website – use “google analytics” orwww.statcounter.com

GRANTS/GOVERNMENT PROGRAMMES/GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCEAre you maximizing incentives that you may be eligible for? http://www.bsi.com.au/

FIND YOURSELF A MENTOR OR ADVISORY BOARDThis is key. There are a number of successful businessmen who want to add value and give back to others.

WEALTH CREATION• Your wealth plan is a journey – over the period, there will be ups and downs. Make sure you have a financial plan, that is continuously monitored. There will be deviations. Your financial planner will lead you in the direction that will enable you to achieve your goals. (http://www.arktotalwealth.com.au/ )• Never over stretch your financial capacity.• Cash is king• Turnover is Vanity, Profit is Sanity, But Cash Flow is King and Queen• Ensure that you have a budget• Have proper accounting systems and reporting schedules – what you can measure you can manage• Organise your finances• Consolidate your loans• Take your bank manager to lunch• Ensure you have adequate facilities to take advantage of opportunities when they occurFind yourself an excellent mortgage broker that will go out of their way to look after you. http://www.liquidityfinance.com.au/• Tax plan well before the end of the financial year• Are relevant agreements in place –o if you have a partner , do you have a buy/sell agreemento do you have a shareholders agreemento have you got insurances to manage your risko is your will in place

KNOW YOUR ECONOMY• Where are we in the economic cycle?• What does it mean to me and my business?• What are the opportunities that we can take advantage of?